Campaign of the Month:
June 2012

Crimson Skies

Ian's Backstory

Redhurst Academy of Magic

School of the Apprentice

12 Shal 1333 YS

Konnichiwa, Mother -

My apologies for leading off with such a foreign word, but as you have doubtlessly guessed, it is a greeting. It is Kaidanese – well, a rough phonetic approximation thereof, as Kaidan is… misplaced, might be the most appropriate word. Its isles once sat far off in the East, but long ago it “magically” disappeared, as if cursed to exist only in another reality. Travel to and from is not entirely impossible, apparently, as there is a region in the sea wherein this alternate plane of existence intersects with our own.

As you have no doubt surmised, I have been tasked to travel to this land. I know this will be difficult for you, as Father was similarly tasked – indeed, being before The High King and hearing Father’s legacy delivered with such grandeur was quite humbling. The High King professed that Redhurst had always had their eye on me, and claimed that Father had once been Aegis’s favorite pupil, and Headmaster Andarlin had been Father’s first teacher’s assistant in his Honors Runes and Lore class when he was a novice. Such large shoes to fill…

Over the course of the evening, I was given Father’s first staff. I know that the two of you spent a lot of time in the forests of the North, and so I shall be coming by within the next few days to deliver it to you. This new assignment was completely unexpected, and I’m told it is of utmost urgency, but fortunately I’m afforded a little time to gather my things, and prepare my mind for the journey ahead. I’m told that this may keep me on the road a while, and though I will miss you dearly, know that Professor Oscar Wylde will know how to contact me. Of everyone here, I will miss him the most. He has been a fabulous mentor, and I’ll be certainly putting his language learning method, which he called the Rosetta Stone method, to use as I attempt to pick up Kaidanese in just under a week.

I’m also going to put in a little time practicing my archery. I feel that I’ve spent most of the last year neglecting the training that I was given, starting on the eve of my 21st birthday. Oh, how I hoped that the Academy was giving me that training to send me to find Father, but alas… I feel like so much of my “training” was done with some shadowy grand purpose in mind that even now I’m not privy to. However, I am more than prepared to take on all of the responsibility that being a Bradwarden entails. To be honest, I am overjoyed to be free of the Academy walls, and allowed to see the world – and apparently, see the unseen world as well!

Well, I will keep this letter short, as I will be by within the week, as promised. Say hello to my sweet sister Clara for me. Hopefully I will catch her before she returns to school.